System and method for applying biomechanical characterizations to patient care

Abstract

A system and method for addressing patient health through monitoring patient movement that includes, during a treatment stage, collecting kinematic data from at least one inertial measurement unit of an activity monitoring system; generating a set of biomechanical signals from the kinematic data wherein the set of biomechanical signals characterize at least one biomechanical property; updating a mobility quality score of the subject based on the set of biomechanical signals; and delivering a health assessment.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for addressing patient health through monitoring patient movement comprising:
 in association with at least one treatment stage, collecting kinematic data from at least one inertial measurement unit of an activity monitoring system, wherein the activity monitoring system is coupled to a subject;   generating a set of biomechanical signals from the kinematic data wherein the set of biomechanical signals characterize at least one biomechanical property;   updating a mobility quality score of the subject based on the set of biomechanical signals; and   delivering a health assessment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tracking administration of a treatment; and wherein the health assessment is an analysis of the treatment based in part on the motion quality in comparison to the administration of the treatment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the treatment is a set of physical therapy sessions, and wherein the assessment indicates mobility quality relative to tracked physical therapy sessions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the treatment is a set of physical therapy sessions, and wherein the health assessment includes a physical therapy treatment recommendation. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the treatment is administration of a drug, and wherein the health assessment includes a drug treatment recommendation with recommended drug dosage and timing. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the drug is a pain medicine. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the treatment is usage of a medical device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein collecting the kinematic data and generating the set of biomechanical signals are performed during the recovery stage of a treatment; and wherein the assessment is a recovery report. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the treatment stage is a treatment analysis stage, and wherein the assessment includes a metric for predicted treatment impact. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the treatment stage is a post-surgery analysis stage. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein delivering the health assessment comprises comparing current motion quality score from a current post-surgery stage to a motion quality score from a pre-surgery stage. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the treatment stage is a diagnosis stage; further comprising directing actions by a patient; wherein biomechanical signals are generated during each directed action, wherein the health assessment is a motion disorder diagnosis report. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein updating the mobility quality score comprises detecting an event risk scenario through the biomechanical signals; and wherein delivering the health assessment comprises triggering an alert in response to the event risk scenario. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the set of biomechanical signals comprises generating a set of stride-based biomechanical signals comprising segmenting kinematic data by steps and for at least a subset of the stride-based biomechanical signals generating a biomechanical signal based on step biomechanical properties. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein generating the set of stride-based biomechanical signals comprises generating a step consistency biomechanical signal. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein kinematic data is collected from at least two inertial measurement units; and further comprising analyzing relative displacements between locations of the two inertial measurement units and determining a range of motion estimate; and wherein mobility quality is based in part on range of motion. 
     
     
         17 . A method for addressing patient health through monitoring patient movement comprising:
 monitoring mobility quality of a plurality of patients, which comprises for each patient:
 collecting kinematic data from at least one inertial measurement unit of an activity monitoring system, wherein the activity monitoring system is coupled to a subject, 
 generating a set of biomechanical signals from the kinematic data wherein the set of biomechanical signals characterize at least one biomechanical property, 
 updating a mobility quality score of the patient based on the set of biomechanical signals, and 
 delivering a health assessment to an administrator system. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising detecting an event of at least one patient, and triggering an alert to a remote monitoring system. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein delivering a health assessment to an administrator system can comprise reporting on a patients fulfillment of an activity target. 
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 an activity monitoring device that comprises at least one inertial measurement unit, wherein the activity monitoring device is configured to collect kinematic data during at least one stage of a treatment; and   a processor, wherein the processor is configured to
 generate a set of biomechanical signals from the kinematic data, wherein the set of biomechanical signals characterize at least one biomechanical property, 
 update a mobility score of a patient based on the set of biomechanical signals, and 
 deliver a health assessment.